摘要：Many advanced Western countries have been and will be facing both aging and shrinking populations in the decades to come. The challenges resulting from this demographic change for the labor market, the educational system and the welfare state are serious. However, they do not have to lead into a deep and inevitable crisis if political decision-makers, firms, society and individuals alike are willing to under- take the necessary changes. It is essential to start the neces- sary transformations now! In particular, institutions, work- ing conditions and individual behavior need to be adjusted in order to keep elderly workers longer fit and healthy and to improve work/life balance over the life course. As a conse- quence, this empowers people to stay in employment longer than previously. This includes that traditional strategies of excluding older persons from further working and training are abandoned. In general, the one-sided negative view of the aging process has to be reconsidered.
